Almost Like A Song
by Theban-Rune
Summary: She despaired to choose of her three knights in shining armour, so she took them all.


The Queen of the North has three Queensguard, just three; a bastard, a cadet branch boy, and an heir.

The bastard is a pardoned deserter of the Night's Watch who many say is half a wildling due to his time at the Wall and beyond it. No one wishes to cross swords with the Valyrian steel he wields, nor meet the fangs of the direwolf at his heels. (Some men will joke in their cups that the direwolf is actually the fourth Queensguard.) The queen's own bastard brother, though there are whispers that he may be the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, that it is the only reason the Dragon Queen agreed to his pardoning. They say he returned from the Stranger's grip to help crown Sansa Stark for the North.

The boy is not really a boy, only a few years younger than the bastard and a year or two older than the Queen of the North herself, but he is, in fact, from the cadet branch of House Payne. He'd squired for Tyrion Lannister, while Tyrion Lannister still sided with the Lannisters. Like the Lannister he served, the boy has changed. No longer does he stutter and talk to people's toes. His dark eyes hold no nervousness or fear as they once did, the coolness of his eyes actually unnerves some men. The scar on his neck unnerves the rest.

It is rumored that the Queen of the North was to marry the sandy haired Hardyng of her Queensguard, but all those who know if the story is true or not are all dead. The young Defender of the Vale, Robert Arryn, glowers down from his seat disapprovingly before saying it was _Alyane_ the Hardyng was to wed. But no one knows who Alayne is, and Robert's responses are shaken off as a child's story. The lords of the Vale shift about nervously, with the only traceable heir giving up land and title, but the queen smiles and they find themselves silent.

When her marriage to Tyrion Lannister is set aside, the queen turns down marriage proposals with a kind smile. With the North and Vale backing her, no one attempts to pressure her into marrying. Though the North will need an heir eventually, many are willing to let the queen rule for a time then marry. No one sees Pod press a kiss to her temple as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Nor do they see the way she, at times, leans her head against Harry's shoulder as he smiles jokingly and whispers loving words to her. They will never know of Jon intertwining his fingers with her own as they lays in the godswood staring up at the red leaves and the blue sky.

Spring seems to have arrived when the queen's belly becomes noticeable, and the court erupts with more whispered gossip than ever before. Some claim a noble lord fathered the babe in her belly during a stay at Winterfell, others say she'd taken a wildling as a lover. The only answer she gives on the subject is to claim that her child was fathered by the North itself, then she continues to go about her business, spine straight and blue eyes fierce.

Edwyn Stark, the heir to Winterfell and the North, is a bright boy born in spring. His mother legitimizes him when she is well enough to have the papers written up and brought to her as she is bed ridden. He rests on her breast as she attends court matters, when she and he are deemed healthy enough to leave bed. He has his mother's auburn hair and pale skin, but his large, dark eyes are guessed to be a trait of the man who sired him. People whisper their disappointment in the bastard boy being fatherless, with how good his nature is. The same people smile at how the Queensguard, and the direwolf, adore the boy and express their hopes that they shall still be around to guard the boy when he sits on the North's throne. He belongs to the North, it is said.

Sansa sings songs to her son and tells him stories. His favorite is the one about the girl who became a queen in her own right, after enduring much. Three brave knights had set out to save her, two after defying death and the third when he realized that she would never belong to him. She saved herself, however. But their bravery for attempting to save her for no other reason but to save her both surprised and pleased her. She despaired to choose of her three knights in shining armour, so she took them all.


End file.
